PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mickey Ward (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Xavier Quatrone (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Quatrone has chosen Stronger by Kayne West as his entrance music. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Ward
vs
Quatrone

173 cm
19
150 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

163 cm
19
141 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

Decent wrestler
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mickey Ward!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Xavier Quatrone!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, John Kavanagh and Chad Campbell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ward shoots in looking for a takedown but Quatrone manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Ward's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Quatrone closes this distance looking for a takedown but Ward circles away.
Quatrone has a takedown stuffed.
Ward misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Ward throws a head kick that half lands.

Ward scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Ward working the ground and pound but Quatrone is defending the strikes.
Quatrone is holding Ward down, trying to stall.
Ward wants to control but Quatrone is keeping him busy.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Quatrone can't do much from the bottom here.
Ward trying to control the action but Quatrone is working from the bottom.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Quatrone can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward tries to move to mount but Quatrone blocks the move with his legs.
Ward tries to stand but Quatrone is controlling his head.
Quatrone is trying to improve his position.
Quatrone struggling a bit here.
Quatrone is holding Ward down, trying to stall.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Ward shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Quatrone as he avoids it easily.

Ward takes the fight into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ward tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Quatrone smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mickey Ward. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ward pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Quatrone closes this distance looking for a takedown but Ward circles away.
Quatrone is trying hard to land a takedown here. Ward sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Ward lands with a nice body punch.
Quatrone fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

Quatrone looking to score a takedown here. Ward is defending well but Quatrone drives through and ends up in Ward's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ward controls Quatrone momentarily but Quatrone frees himself.
Quatrone is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Quatrone throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Ward works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Ward trying to control the position.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

We're going to have a standup here because Mickey Ward wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Quatrone shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Quatrone breaks from Ward's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Ward is wriggling around trying to escape.
Quatrone lands a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ward is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Quatrone cracks Ward with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Ward is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Quatrone is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Ward can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Quatrone in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Quatrone with shots to the head and body - Ward looks very uncomfortable down there.
Quatrone working the ground and pound effectively.
Quatrone avoids the attempt from Ward to control.
Quatrone landing strikes from the mount.
Quatrone with a couple of short strikes.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Quatrone lands a big elbow.
Quatrone postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Ward looks a forlorn figure.
Ward is trying to escape the mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xavier Quatrone dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Quatrone closes the distance and clinches up with Ward, looking for a takedown. Quatrone pushes Ward against the cage but Ward circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Ward lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Quatrone shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Ward pinned against the cage. Ward gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Ward tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Quatrone manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Ward throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Ward misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Ward with a poor takedown

and Quatrone counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Quatrone is keen to just control but Ward is a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward is pressing down on Quatrone's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Ward working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Quatrone.
Quatrone advances to half guard.
Ward avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Quatrone.
Ward blocking the ground and pound attempt from Quatrone.
Quatrone sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Ward defending well though.
Quatrone looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Ward with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Quatrone passes the guard and advances to mount!
Quatrone landing strikes from the mount and Ward is in trouble!
Quatrone connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Quatrone scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Ward?
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Quatrone with the ground and pound from mount.
Quatrone lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ward is trying to escape the mount.
The referee warns Ward that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Ward is trying to stand up.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Quatrone is landing with some decent strikes but Ward is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Ward wants to hold on but Quatrone pushes him away.
Quatrone working Ward over with strikes here.
Ward wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Quatrone in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Quatrone can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Ward is looking to escape.
Ward wants to hold on but Quatrone pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Quatrone raining down hammerfists from mount.
Xavier Quatrone has got the better of the ground game so far.
Quatrone with good strikes from the mount here!
Quatrone dominating with strikes here.
Ward tries to hold on but Quatrone pushes him away.
Quatrone fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Quatrone with the ground and pound from mount.
Quatrone in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Ward wants to hold on but Quatrone pushes him away.
Quatrone landing strikes from the mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Quatrone tries to control but Ward wriggling away.
Quatrone scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Quatrone raining down hammerfists from mount.
Ward tries to lock up and control but Quatrone gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Quatrone is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Ward can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Quatrone landing punches.
Quatrone is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Ward can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

Ward is rocked!
Quatrone lands a big elbow.
Oh Ward is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Quatrone raining down hammerfists from mount.
Quatrone cracks Ward with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Quatrone is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Quatrone controlling from the full mount.
Quatrone looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
A nice elbow there by Quatrone.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
BOOM! Quatrone connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Ward wants to hold on but Quatrone pushes him away.
Ward's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Quatrone with shots to the head and body - Ward looks very uncomfortable down there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xavier Quatrone showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Quatrone is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Ward.
Ward seems to have got his legs back now.
Ward has his takedown stuffed

and Quatrone counters with a takedown into side control.
Ward takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Quatrone is working Ward over with some ground and pound from side control.
Ward wants to control but Quatrone postures up.
Ward is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Quatrone asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Quatrone in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Quatrone controlling from side mount.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Quatrone is working Ward over with some ground and pound from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Quatrone connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Ward some visible discomfort.
Quatrone cracks Ward with a big right hand but Ward just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Quatrone lands some shots froms side control.
Quatrone lands an elbow.
Quatrone looks up at the clock and then as Ward takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Quatrone smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Ward takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Quatrone blocks the strikes from Ward.
Quatrone scores with a big shot from side control... and another... and another! Oh Ward is done here - save him referee! More strikes land and eventually the ref does step in and Quatrone can finally stop beating on his defenseless opponent!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:48 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Xavier Quatrone!